Sorghaghatani Beki

Sorghaghatani Beki (1198-1252) was the wife of Tolui Khan and the mother of Hulegu Khan, Mongke Khan, Kublai Khan, and Ariq Boke.

Biography
Sorghaghatani was born in 1198 to the Kereyids, a dynasty of Nestorian Christian Mongols. At the age of 6, in 1204, she married the 11-year-old Tolui Khan, and in 1209 she gave birth to Mongke Khan at the age of 11. She went on to bear her husband three more sons: Hulegu Khan, Kublai Khan, and Ariq Boke. Unlike other women in Mongolia, Sorghaghatani had a major role in politics, raising her sons to be leaders and ensuring that all of them would inherit Genghis Khan's empire. She also facilitated trade links due to her Christian beliefs, making it easier for European merchants to relate to the Mongols.

Sorghaghatani refused to remarry after Tolui's death, declining the hands of Ogedei Khan and Guyuk Khan in marriage. She focused on her four sons, but she later became a member of Batu Khan's faction, supporting him as the new Khagan after the death of Mongke in 1241. Ogedei was khan until his death in 1250, and she survived Mongke Khan's obliteration of Ogedei's clan and other threats. She died in 1252 at the age of 54.